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The Lawyer-Judge Bias in the American Legal System

The Lawyer-Judge Bias in the American Legal System

Name: The Lawyer-Judge Bias in the American Legal System
Brand: Cambridge University Press
SKU: 9781107004757
Price: 781.82 HKD
Availability: OutOfStock
Author: Benjamin H. Barton
ISBN: 9781107004757

By Benjamin H. Barton

Cambridge University Press March 2011

Specifications

ISBN-13: 9781107004757
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Publication: March 2011
Format: Hardback
Jurisdiction: U.S. ? Countri(es) for reference only

Details

Virtually all American judges are former lawyers. This book argues that these lawyer-judges instinctively favor the legal profession in their decisions and that this bias has far-reaching and deleterious effects on American law.

There are many reasons for this bias, some obvious and some subtle. Fundamentally, it occurs because – regardless of political affiliation, race, or gender – every American judge shares a single characteristic: a career as a lawyer. This shared background results in the lawyer-judge bias.

The book begins with a theoretical explanation of why judges naturally favor the interests of the legal profession and follows with case law examples from diverse areas, including legal ethics, criminal procedure, constitutional law, torts, evidence, and the business of law.

The book closes with a case study of the Enron fiasco, an argument that the lawyer-judge bias has contributed to the overweening complexity of American law, and suggests some possible solutions.

Contents:: 1. An ambient bias; 2. The theory; 3. Constitutional criminal procedure; 4. Civil constitutional law; 5. A short history of lawyer regulation; 6. Current lawyer regulation; 7. Torts; 8. Evidence and civil procedure; 9. The business of law; 10. Enron's sole survivors; 11. Complexity and the lawyer-judge bias; 12. Rays of hope, ramifications and possible solutions.